‘Touching the Void’ nominated for Grierson Awards

Thirty-six documentaries have been nominated for the Grierson 2004 British Documentary Awards, including Kevin Macdonald's ‘Touching the Void’, co-funded by the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund.
Nine different panels, made up of eminent filmmakers and other experts, have each chosen four films to go forward to the final stage in the competition. Private Eye Editor and TV wit Ian Hislop will present the awards at a ceremony to be hosted by Bloomberg at their state-of-the-art building in London on Monday November 8 and broadcast on BBC Four the following night. A special award, the Trustees Award, is also made each year to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the Documentary.
Named in honour of the pioneering Scottish documentary maker John Grierson (1898 – 1972), the Grierson Awards – now in their 32nd year – are Britain’s only awards dedicated to film and television documentary. With the exception of the two international categories, they are open only to productions that originated in Britain, but the entries this year could hardly be more international. From art in the outback of Australia to AIDS in the remote provinces of central China, from Muslim/Hindu conflict in India to the personal struggles of one musician against cancer on the isle of Mull, Grierson celebrates the very best of the year’s factual films.
Grierson has attracted a new sponsors in the form of financial information giant Bloomberg, who have agreed to host the awards ceremony this year and will be putting on a spectacular party for the assembled nominees and the leading lights of the documentary industry as well as sponsoring the Best Newcomer category. They join existing sponsors Frontier Post and BMG Zomba, who support the Most Entertaining and Arts categories respectively.
The awards have also received support from the UK Film Council, the Dorset Foundation and the National Film Board of Canada.
In another new development, the nominated films will receive additional exposure around the world in a special best-of-British showcase organised by the British Council.
(GB)